Heart of a Cowardly Hero
by Wings of the Stars118
Summary: "I reach an envelope that is yellow with writing in purple pen.There's no return address; that's strange. My brow furows as I carefully slit the envelope open and read the letter. As I read, I fell all the blood drain from my face and I go pale." Luigi anxiously awaits his brother's return but soon finds it might be harder than expected. T for violence and blood.
1. The Letter

**Chapter 1**

_**AHH! I'M WRITING! IT'S A MIRACLE! Anyway, that aside, this is going to be the first of my "Heart" series. I did Luigi because not only do I like him, but it seems almost everyone else does too. Hope you enjoy!**_

"How does he do it?"  
I sigh, looking out the window. I've stayed home, again, because Mario had to trek over to Bowser's to rescue Princess Peach…again. But, honestly, how can he stand being called every single time and then spending several days out on another life-threatening, scary, crazy adventure every time Peach is captured? I consider myself pretty patient, but Mario must have some sort of never ending supply. But then again, how in the world could the princess get captured so much in so little time, or at least, be in danger?  
I don't think I would understand it too well, though. It's rare to see me on an adventure with Mario. I don't know why people think I'm a big, green scaredy-cat when I don't follow my brother like a little lost puppy. Have you seen some of the things we, or more often, my bro has to fight? I'm just being cautious, plus I will admit, I'm a bit paranoid. OK, fine, more than a bit, but my statement still stands.  
Time and time again, my bro has gone to save the princess while I just stayed home. He probably has a better time focusing too, without my paranoia running my mouth for me. That and not only does he have to dodge, jump, hit, and swim through everything and worry about how much time he has before Bowser sets up another of his shenanigans, he also has to worry about me being able to make it through, keep myself from falling on my face, since I have that tendency, and if I can keep up. I may be faster and slightly more agile, but he's more experienced.  
I look out the window, twidling and tapping my fingers. The sun is setting, marking the sixth day that Mario has been gone, off rescuing Peach. I know it usually takes a while anyway, but this is taking longer than the others. He should be home by now, cracking up and telling me about all the things that happened. I let the fears I've always had when he's gone move to the front of my mind.  
Has he been killed when he didn't have an extra 1-up? Most likely not; Mario has getting amazingly good at dodging and fighting and he is extremely conservative with his items. Still, there is a small possibility of it. What if he's alive but severly injured, unable to move? Again, probably not. What if he has been captured and is now being held against his will?  
The last "What if" makes me shudder. I'm not too worried if it's Bowser. He would ruff him up a bit at the most, even if he is a little diabolical. Sure, Mario and Bowser have those battles all the time but, they're on surprisingly good terms with each other. No, it's actually a different foe I'm truly worried about.  
Mario and I together have made quite a few enemies, but none of them, except one, is as horrid as him. That is my opinion, though, of course. He calls himself The Master of Dimentions, Pleaser of Crowds, Dimentio. He's a phsycotic, manipulative, diabolical jester. He used Mario, Bowser, Princess Peach, the people he worked with, and me to get what wanted; he wanted to destroy all worlds, and create a world where he ruled, his idea of a perfect world. Even though we all fought him, I got up close and personal, way more than I ever wanted to.  
First off, he used me. He used me as a, destructive, I don't know…THING! According to some book of dark and evil prophecies called the Dark Prognosticus, I was "the man in green", the one that could either save or destroy all worlds. When I think of what could have happened, I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Sadly though, that is only one thing. More happened than just that.  
Dimentio and the group he was working with, cough cough was going to use and betray cough cough, brainwashed me to make me into one of their minions. I became an arrogant, loud, obnoxious, dramatic, egotistical mechanical genius called Mr. L. Mr. L was my dark counterpart, using everything bad about me or something not part of me at all to be an evil mastermind. Count Bleck and Nastasia also used my twinge of jealousy towards my brother against him.  
I feel tears starting to prickle the back of my eyes. They start to well up in my eyes. I quickly wipe them away and get up from the table. Sitting around moping isn't going to get anything done. My head hangs low as I watch my feet. I was wearing a green t-shirt, jeans, and my brown shoes. My ungloved hands wipe at my eyes at my command to wipe away tears as I hear the mailbox close. I raise my head and see Parakarry flying away. Maybe Mario's coming home now.  
I open the door and shut it behind me. I reach into the mailbox and sift through the envelopes. Letters from Brooklyn, probably Mom, Dad, and Pauline, (harassing Mario), then a few taxes, (we can't live here completely free, sadly), and junk mail. I reach an envelope that is yellow with writing in purple pen. There's no return address; that's strange. My brow furrows as I carefully slit the envelope open and unfold the letter. As I read, I can feel all the blood drain from my face and I go pale.

_**CLIFFHANGER! I am evil! Thank you and please review! Hope you liked it!~Avery**_


	2. Can I?

_**I have not much to say. Wow, I'm old fashioned. MAH! OFF-TOPIC! Hope you like it and, if it is at all possible, do not grab your can of, as FrittzyCrazy called it, "Cliffhanger-be-gone." Yes I'm talking to you. Hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

I stare at the letter. He's escaped? I read the piece of paper over and over again as a few words grab hold and run in my mind. _Escaped. Brother. Captured. Dimentio. _I shake myself out of it. I lightly pinch myself to make sure I didn't fall asleep from anxiety; I'm awake. I read it aloud, just to make sure. "Dear Minion," I start. Minion? I don't think I like where this is going, even if I've already read this. "Even though I do hate to interrupt you like an annoying little pest of a mosquito at an evening picnic, I thought it might interest you to know, I'm out of that little prison and the reach of Jaydes' power, and I thirst for revenge. Plus I also have captured your dear older brother. He may not be in safe hands! Ahahaha! Ciao, Dimetio."  
I shudder at the though of that phsycotic jester running loose. I try to wrap my head around the idea of Dimentio out of Jaydes's grasp. My heart is pounding in my chest.  
"Ok. So Dimentio is out of his prison in the Underwhere and far away from Queen Jaydes. He is either messing with me by saying he has Mario to lure me wherever he is when he's not even there or he really does have Mario, and plans to get back at me and him at the same time," I state to myself, trying to calm myself down. That didn't work.  
I can't risk Mario being there and I don't go but I can't risk going and getting myself into a crazy mess. I'm torn. I start pacing around the mailbox, trying to think of what to do. The neighbors probably think I've lost it.  
What would Mario do? If I were in danger, I know he would come to help me. Even if I weren't in danger, Dimentio would be out loose, putting others in danger. I pause; others are in danger. Of course! Dimentio could have found some new recruits already and could be using them as pawns for his dirty work. Even if Mario isn't there, I have to go. He's unable to help those innocent people, so I'll have to.  
Don't get me wrong, the idea of helping others and being a hero to someone is a warm thought and I like the idea. I then remember that I've only done this alone about two times. Those times were at that mansion I "won" and Mario got trapped in a painting. I was scared out of my mind probably three-fourths of the time, if not more. I didn't have much of an idea of what I was doing and acted out of fear quite a bit, making a lot of mistakes. Too many.  
I bite my lip. I look back out at the glowing sky, the end of the sunset. I glance toward Princess Peach's castle set in the distance. Paranoia and safety, or danger and possibly my brother back? If I grit my teeth any harder, they're going to break. I quickly dash inside and rumage through the cabinets, looking for that extra survival pack Mario always kept around. I fling open several cabinet doors looking for it, trying to shake the new burning fear that Mario took it with him or that it's lost.  
Oh, Stars. I think he took it; I can't find it. Only one place left. I dash from the kitchen to the hatch in the floor that leads down to the basement. I hurriedly lift it up and quickly placed my feet on the rungs. In my rush, I almost miss the bar and my foot catches air. I "gracefully," sarcasm intended, catch myself and grope for the sides of the ladder. This isn't looking too good, so far.  
I safely place my feet on the solid floor of the basement. I turn around and see the boxes of, well, I actually don't remember. I see a dark blue backpack that Mario kept in emergencies and I let out a sigh of relief. I cast a wary glance toward the area where my desk is hidden behind stacks of boxes where my diary is. I shake off the feeling that someone read it and walk over slowly to the bag to go through it.  
Matches, (incase I don't have a fire flower) check. Duct tape, (no comment) check. First aid kit, (for obvious reasons) check. Crackers, ( I don't _even_ want to know how long those have been in there) check. Sleeping bag, (how did Mario fit that in here?) check. Water, (again, I don't want to know) check. Finally, a flashlight, (more obvious reasons) check.  
I let out another sigh of relief. I look at the boxes and let curiosity take over. I inch towards the box and reach inside. I pull out a cap formed from dark green fabric with a black circle surrounding a green backwards L insignia on the front. I stare at it in shock.  
"No, no, no, no, no! I'm not doing this! Mario has his reasons and you don't absolutely have to know them," I say, puttting the cap back and standing up. I hoist the bag onto my shoulder and start up the ladder.  
"You are just going to forget about that, Luigi," I remind myself. I look out at the sky from the kitchen window. It's gone dark and the night's first stars are in view. I look at my bag and then back at the sky. I'll be of no good use if I'm deprived of sleep. Lowering the bag and dropping it by the door, I walk to my room, barely take the time to tske off my shoes, and roll onto my bed and into sleep, only to have one of the worst dreams I've had in a while, almost forgetting about my identity once as Mr. L.

* * *

_**Another cliffhanger! AH! For some reason, I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Hope you like it and please review! Oh, and I'm going to try to update this weekend. No promises.~Avery**_


	3. The Dream

_**I AM SOOO SORRY! My life has been in complete chaos. Between **_

_**errands, school, Thanksgiving, and having a horrible cold which made me feel like complete and utter poo. And a bit of Christmas Chaos. I have not had a real chance to get on the computer and get this up. Terribly sorry for the delay.**_

_**Anyway, away from the depressing topics, I think the author's notes have been getting a little lonely, so I'll be sharing them with my, uh, 12, OC's from my original story, which I'll try to upload to deviantart soon, **_**Hopeful.**_** (Drumroooooll) Finnegan is up first!**_

**Finn:**_** Uh, hi. Anyway, Mario, Luigi, Dimentio, and anything else that relates to Mario, belongs to Nintendo. However, my friends and I, along with our story, belong to Avery.**_

_**Me: Hope you enjoy!**_

I'm running in a room lit with flames, the burning destruction covering the walls. The wall structures are showing through, windows are broken, and large gaps in the floor. I keep searching, for what, I don't know, even though the ceiling could collapse on me at any second, burying me alive.

I feel like I've been running forever, my heart banging in my chest. I finally stop to try and catch my breath after running from that shadow thing. I slowly slide down the wall and slump onto the floor. I raise my head and gasp. I'm seeing the most horrible, morbid scene I could ever imagine.

Blood is everywhere, painting parts of the walls and floor with crimson streaks. My heart is threatening to pop out from my chest. Everywhere I look, I see the crimson streaks of someone's blood.

My heart instantly stops as I see a figure in red and blue lying on the floor. "Mario," I gasp. How…? I hear his shallow breaths, just barely. He's still alive. I can clearly see his wounds, the slashes on his arms, sides, and even his face, is if thousands of knives were hurled at him. Dimentio floats just above him, his feet almost touching the ground. A triumphant grin is spread across his face as he looks down at my frail and dying brother. Blood, too, covers Dimentio's clothing. He slowly raises his head and his smile widens.

"Ahahaha. Why, hello, Luigi. I guess you didn't get the message. I told you to hurry, for he wasn't in safe hands at all. And now, you're next!" He laughs, flying straight at me; I try to move, but I'm frozen, sitting here on the floor beside the wall.

I lurch up from my pillow with a scream, sweating. My heart is still pounding away. I shudder at the memory of that dream, now probably forever burned into my mind. I almost yell for Mario, but then I remember. I slowly slide out of bed and stumble across the room to the window. I peek through the blinds to see a faint light in the distance. It must almost be dawn.

I look towards the door and recall my dream; I need to hurry. I look down at my wrinkled clothing that I wore yesterday. I quickly change into what some call my signiture outfit, though it's more of Mario's than mine, or a long-sleeved shirt, overalls, and gloves. I try and shove my feet into my stiff brown shoes beside my green bed. I struggle to put on the left on; finally, I slam my foot so hard into my shoe that it sends searing pain up my leg. I gasp a word of choice and bite my lip. I sigh inwardly; here comes Clumsy to the rescue.

I limp through the house, careful to not come across anything else that could cause me harm. I haven't evn left yet and I'm limping. This is a perfect start. I grab my green cap and firmly place it on my head. I pull my arms through the backpack loops and turn back to the door. I open the door and walk out, to see the mornings first rays of sunlight. Time to find Mario.

I. HATE. GOOMBAS. They're _everywhere!_ They just walk in their little crowds blocking your way, hurting you, and just plain being annoying little jerks. I'm trying to stay on good terms with Bowser but honestly, I can see why he always fails in his plans. His minions are so darn stupid.

Of course, they just have to walk straight at you or follow you in little mobs. What's up with that? I'm not trying to bother them, making the effort to walk around them or jump over them, but they won't leave me alone. Plus, I swear one has to be stalking me. Everytime I turn around, no one is there, but when I go back to walking, I can feel its eyes watching me. I pick up my pace, walking closer to the forest ahead. I look back, to see nothing, once again. A whimper escapes the lump in my throat.

I steadily walking closer. I might as well say running though. I need to get away from all these idiotic, stalker goombas. I'm almost to the forest when a giant piranha plant pops up from a hidden pipe in the ground. I fall backwards, landing on my rear, getting out of the way just in time to avoid being bitten. I look up to survey the enormous plant; I think I prefer the goombas.

I quickly reagin my senses as the plants slides back into the pipe. I dash over and look ahead. "Oh, poop."

"_**Oh, poop." I love that line. Anyway, I'm thinking about adding a new character soon. If you have a preference for a cannon character or even your OC, let me know in the reveiws or PM me. Plus, if you don't have a suggestion that works, I could always try to fit one of my OC's in there…*evil grin***_

_**Finn: Wait a minute, what? You never said that! HEY! *Gets muffled by my hand***_

_**Me: Bye! R&R!**_


	4. INTO THE FOREST!

_**I'm ashamed. I'm deeply ashamed. There is probably little excuse for disappearing for… I don't even remember how many months. It's very sad that I seemed to have loads of freetime when I started this story, and now, I'm piled with schoolwork, mi familia's health issues, writer's block, and procrastination. I'm horrible, and I'm sorry.**_

_**Luigi: How much longer are you going to drag this out?**_

_**Me: *glares* Anyway, enough of that. I want to quickly thank 999 the 9**__**th**__** for their awesome suggestion. (That was actually part of my writer's block.)**_

_**Luigi: R&R.**_

There has to be over 30 of them.

Piranha Plants are scattered across the field. A small whimper escapes from my throat; this is wonderfully fantastic. Sarcasm intended. Polluted plants, Fire Piranhas, and the usual, common Piranha Plant that just wants to bite your head off scatter the field just before the woods. Sounds like fun to Mario, maybe, but a nightmare to me.

My thoughts return to the problem at hand. One plant at a time, I guess. Quickly dashing past one pipe, I make it past, avoiding the plant's mouth, just barely. I whiz past several pipes, the number I've past growing higher.

9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Nothing's gone wrong yet; I'm still passing them with ease. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Still hopping over them and running past; not dead yet and no incidnets. 23, 24, 25, 26, 17. I haven't screwed up; should I be concerned? 30-

A wall of pipes stand before me, plants popping up, of all kinds. Nope, I'm not concerned anymore.

Fire and polluted gases cloud the air around me. I come within half a foot to skin contact with a fireball as two other plants almost bite me. I yell, more like scream actually. Not that anyone can hear me though, of course. Where's the stalker goomba or whatever it was when you need it? Anything would be of good help right now.

Fire flashes around me, lighting up the area even more. I can hear Mario's teasing taunt, now, _"Don't get burned!" _He would always make sure I didn't get hurt, or would help me when I did. A polluted plant exhales overhead; don't want to breathe that.

I make it to the forest, with out serious injury, amazingly. _I made it, _I think to myself. I pant and let out a relieved sigh. The blood is still pounding in my ears. My knees buckle and my legs collapse out from under me; just a few minutes and then I'll be up again. I check myself, to make sure I'm not hurt. Taking off the backpack, I see several singe marks and it reeks. I might just rival Mario's morning dragon breath. Yikes.

Just another moment. I take a deep breath and stand up, my legs shaking so hard, they threaten to collapse beneath me. I grab the pack and start to walk. It's probably better to keep moving.

I've been walking a while, to no certain place. My mind wanders, almost making me walk into a tree, several times. I've already stubbed my toe twice. _Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy._

I hear the rustle of leaves, probably from a nearby tree. Or maybe it was a bush? I can hardly tell. The leaves rustle again. _It's probably nothing, Luigi. You can't afford to run away screaming like the sissy that you are… Where did that thought come from?_

A square-ish thing with a glowing tail comes rolling out of the bushes; why does this thing look so familiar? It catches sight of me and starts moving my way. What the- "AHHH!"

The square creature transformed into a large beast, with a somewhat dog-like head and sharp teeth. A Jawbus, of course. Panic starts to rise in my throat. Oh, Stars. It charges at me and I quickly leap away. My legs are shaking again; I never really had to face these. Mario always did these battles for us, with his cool flipping ability. A lot of good that does me now.

I leap away again and again, just in time. I can't keep this up forever. You can jump over it, idiot. Stop toying with it already. Jump over and stomp the tail. That's his weak spot; c'mon, just like Mario. The deep voice echoes in the back of my head; it's a voice that is not my own, but is somehow similar. I'll question it later.

I crouch, coiling the muscles in my legs, ready to jump. The Jawbus charges again. I need just the right moment. When it's almost upon me, I spring upward. I clear the beast's head and crash down on it's tail. It lets out a yelp and converts back to the square form. It quickly scurries away.

I watch as it runs away. I can't help but feel a bit guilty; I try to treat creatures as nicely as I can. I shake it off the best I can. I continue to walk

when I hear a high-pitched, yet soft, squeal. What in the world?

A small luma floats out of the bushes, spinning in glee. It looks to be a light shade of orange._ Hi Luigi! I'm so very happy I found you! Can you tell? Yipee! Ooh, do you have starbits?_

A luma? Wow, Dimentio must really be planning to screw something up if Rosalina sent one of her lumas here. I feel a small twinge of annoyance. I'm not really annoyed by the luma itself, but by how they communicate to you. The telepathic thing really screws with my head, but Nastasia and Dimentio have done their fair share of that, too.

_I smile anyway. It's good to know someone's looking out for me._

**_Me: AWWWW! I'm surprised I didn't think of the luma myself. It's adorable!_**

**_Luigi: Even Rosalina likes screwing with my head._**

**_Me: She sent the luma to help! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!_**

**_P.S. See if you can guess who the deep voice in Luigi's head belongs to!_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**About a month and a half since I last updated. I think it's a new record. I WANT TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE WHO READ AND REVIEW! YOUR AWESOMENESS SHOULD BE BOWED DOWN TO! *bows.* Anyways, I was working on the chapter but I was going to choir camp for a week and, well, I didn't want to take my several hundred dollar iPod touch which it was all stored on with me. (Call me crazy, but I'm paranoid now, ever since somebody stole my purse.) When I came back, I was trying to fix the fact that I was unable to download things onto my iPod and my sister offered to help reset it. I emailed my note, and I thought I was good to go. Turns out, when I got it back, somehow, the email was deleted and I had to start from scratch. I was almost done with it too…*pouty face***_

_**Luigi: Ahem. Anyway, while she pouts about that, we noticed everybody got the voice in my head question right. It is, indeed, Mr. L. *Glares at me.***_

_**Me:*Grins* So, now, we will have Mr. L pitching in to mess with poor Luigi's head! So, with not much else to say…**_

_** Luigi: Hope you enjoy! R&R!**_

* * *

We continue with walking along in the forest, only now we've found a trail. I found out the luma's name is Orion, somewhere in those little rants about starbits and little squeals of excitement. I can't imagine staying mad at these lumas for too long, with all their cute, yet crazy antics.

_So, Luigi, _I jump, startled. _I imagine we both know where we are to go, yes?_ I stop.

"Wait, you know where we're supposed to be going, other than wandering around the forest, hoping to find the way to Flipside?" I ask. The luma almost seems like he's grinning.

He twirls in the air, happily singing to the tune of "We're Off to See the Wizard," _We're off to save the worlds, the wonderful, wonderful worlds! We're going to off to stop Dimentio, from destroying the worlds again, and exacting his revenge. Oh, if there ever was such a nasty, he would be the worst of the nasty._ Oh,_ we're off to save the worlds, the wonderful worlds._

The corner of my lips twitch as they slowly pull into a smile at the luma's singing. It's so hard to keep a straight face, especially when he's not quite on key. I hear something about Bowser's Castle and I just about smack myself in the head. Bowser, of course! _Exacting his revenge. _Stars, Luigi, how forgetful are you going to be today?

The four heroes; Mario is either captured by Dimentio or lost in one of his mind bogglers to stall him, I'm, supposedly, going off to meet Dimentio and get him to stop, which he then could capture me. Bowser and Peach are at Bowser's Castle, or in fact, scary thoughts here; the princess was never captured by the Koopa King, but Dimentio. My head's whirling. I hope we aren't too late to warn or help Bowser! I didn't ever really think I'd say that, but, hey, the worlds could be ending for the second time, any moment now.

"Orion!" I say quickly, interrupting his song. He's looks slightly downhearted for a moment then a small smile returns to his face, probably hopeful. "Do you know how far Bowser's Castle is from here?"

The luma looks thoughtful for a moment then twirls. _Not quite, but I could check for you, if you wish me to, _Orion says. He then spins and flies upward. I hold my hand up to shade my eyes from the late-morning sun to see him. He disappears for a minute or two then comes back into view and floats back down. _I'd say, an hour maybe? It could be less if I transform into a launch star a couple of times,_ he says.

I nod and state, "Could you?" He smiles and twirls. A light flashes and I see a spinning gold star. I jump to the center and spin, launching myself high into the clouds. I look down and gulp; that's a long way to fall. I soar steadily higher. Geez, I never noticed how far up or how fast I went in space when using launch stars. Now I can definitely see the impact it has on getting us somewhere. It also kind of makes you wonder, just how big_ are _the gaps between those planets?

I start to notice how fast I'm falling. Oh dear. What if fall to my own death? I try really hard not to panic. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The ground is zooming in, _really _fast. What if it's not possible for Orion to reform? Sweat start to run down the back of my neck and I can hear the blood pounding in my ears, along with the sound of air zooming fast as I fall. I'm trying to remain calm on the outside, so I don't make a worse condition for myself. While I'm not doing any movements or really anything on the outside, in my head, I am most definitely screaming. It's a very unmanly, and very high pitched. _Get a hold of yourself, for the love of Grambi! _I'm caught off guard as the deep voice speaks once again. I see something flash by me and a launch star appears. I spin as I near it and I'm launched again.

The pattern continues for a while and I'm steadily declining in height every time Orion launches me. The voice hasn't returned though and I'm not panicking, not quite as much, anyway. I look to the Darklandian sky. It actually looks quite pretty now. It has more of a dark lavender or light purple color instead of red. The clouds are puffy and white and don't look to be floating ash. I look down to the landscape below, regrettably, since my hands then begin to sweat. It also doesn't look quite as dull and grey as it usually does. It looks to be alive, with a field of green grass. Maybe the volcanoes haven't erupted lately. Maybe they have an eruption season. Bowser does seem to kidnap Princess Peach more often in the summer and fall. It's springtime now.

I see the last launch star, which is close to the ground. I suppose that's the point. I could just float in the middle for a moment then drop to the ground. I calm my breaths and do just that. The launch stars spins super fast and soon Orion reappears as a luma. I smile and thank the luma. He beams. I look back to see I'm at the castle gates. I sigh and push the gates. They inch open, little by little. Soon it's enough for a slightly pudgy man and a luma to pass through. I slip by the iron and Orion helps me put the gates back, speeding up the process, just a bit.

I whirl around and begin dashing towards the large castle ahead. Everything seems to be in bloom and teeming with life but I don't have time to stop. Every minute I waste is a minute Dimentio could be drawing nearer. Maybe I'll come back some other time or convince Peach to let Bowser hold a kart tournament here, in the spring. If I make it that far, that is.

_You have absolutely no confidence, do you? No wonder people say I'm _over-_confident._

I furrow my brow as I run. I sigh inwardly and shake it off. I'll figure it out when I have time. Right now, I need to talk to Bowser immediately. I make it to the doors, out of breath. I can only imagine how hard Mario would panting right now, since he's a little out of shape from Bowser keeping to himself over the winter. I smile a little before it falls to a frown. Mario. I feel tears stinging the back of my eyes. Oh no, this is not how I'm going to confront Bowser. I am not going to go in there with a snotty nose and bloodshot eyes, sniveling my head off. He has plenty enough to taunt me with. In the back of my mind, I think about how someone out there is proud I didn't turn into a sniveling mess, but I brush aside the thought. I take a breath and rap loudly on the doors. I wait for minute and rap again, when there's no answer. I repeat this again and again. I'm starting to get annoyed. Can they just not hear me or-

"Will you shut up, Morton?" I hear several voices shout. Oh Stars, it's the Koopalings. The Seven Little Terrors. The door opens and I see Iggy, Wendy, Morton, Larry, and Junior. Their faces range from shocked, confused, angry, and excited. They all jump around, yelling things, the racket making me want to cover my ears. I step back as the four older sibling bicker and Junior bounces up and down, trying to get their attention.

"Children! Please, go back inside and stop harassing our guest!" The children are shoved down the hall and the chatter fades. I see when she comes back, that it's Kammy. I would hate to have her job.

She sighs, "I'm sorry. They're all just an enormous mess I'm tasked with keeping up with. Now how can I-?" She stops, seeing who I am. She seems taken aback but then says, slightly angry, "What do you want?"

"I, um, need to talk to Bowser about something…" I say, trailing off, nervous.

"Let me guess. You want our help?" she says.

I reply, "Um, well, it's more of a warning about something, but help is always good."

She looks solemn for a moment then sighs, "Ok. I'll let you talk to him but I can't promise how he'll react. I'm too tired with the Koopalings to really fight you off at the moment."

I smile and nod my head in gratitude. She opens the large doors a little more to let me inside. Out of courtesy and kindness, Orion and I help her push the doors back. As we walk down the hall, I explain the situation to her. I say how Mario was alerted about Princess Peach being missing and supposedly ran off here. She seemed a bit shocked and confused and replied by saying Bowser hasn't been planning anything lately, or at least not to her knowledge. When I noticed how the female advisor was eyeing Orion, I explained how I was sent the letter, and I set off to find Mario. I also enlightened her how Orion came around and helped me get here faster. I added a small request.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to convince the King to help you?" Kammy asks, baffled.

"Yes. I do," I reply, nodding.

"I don't see how this is going to change anything! He will most likely shoot it down! All logic would suggest he shoot it down," she says, furrowing her brow.

I smirk, just a bit. "Kammy, think about it a little. I see how exhausted you are with handling those eight children. I could only imagine that you have to deal with the King's grumpiness as well. The King could be out of your hair for a while and Kamek could get off his lazy rear to help you with caring for the children since he doesn't have the excuse of advising King Bowser. Perhaps, the Koopa Kids would even be a little better-behaved since their father isn't around and they can't implore for his attention. You could even, just maybe, get the break that you deserve. You only have to boost his ego a bit and convince him to help. Simple as that."

I've just sweet-talked my way into trying to get Bowser's assistance. Since when have I been such a charmer? Well, I have convinced Mario to help out sometimes around the house, mostly when he's not quite listening. I'm getting sneakier, I swear. _Indeed, you are. Being sly isn't always quite that bad, Luigi._

I look at Kammy; I may have been a bit sly about this but she looks to be mulling it over. I cross my fingers and give a short prayer to the Stars, and Grambi.

"Fine. I'll help," she says.

I breathe a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Kammy. I would think that at least you are the one someone can always count on. Kamek, well, who knows?" Kammy shoots me a smile. A genuine smile.

We have reached the throne room doors. I go to open it when I hear a loud explosion and the castle shakes violently.

"What's going on?" Kammy yells shakily. I've fallen and when I look to where Kammy is, I see abut five of her. He couldn't be doing what I think he's doing, could he?

The castle shakes even more violently and soon things on tables are toppling over, the tables themselves fall, no one is able to stand, things beyond this hall make loud crashing noises, and everything's a shaking blur. More explosions ring out and blinding flashes of light white out my vision.

The sounds of something breaking signals overhead. What's happening? _The Void is reopening, Luigi. He's doing it._

A voice calls out, one of Bowser's minions, most likely, "The Void! It's returned! Who is this voice? How do they know all of this?

Something strikes my head, and the blurred, white rimmed picture before me fades to black. Then I realize I know whose voice that is.

_ Mr. L._

* * *

_**Bum-bum, bum-buh. Bum-bum, bum-buhh. (Beethoven) Ok. I am getting better at this suspense. You're all thinking, "STOP IT WOMAN!" Well, no. Sorry, but I'm not stopping my wonderful suspensefulness. *goofy, evil grim***_

_**Luigi: If that is even a word.**_

_**Me: It's a word to me, so a word it now shall be! *pauses* I have GOT to stop rhyming! So, yeah. Hope you enjoyed it, please review, and also, please check out my profile. I've got some stuff on there I'd like you to see. If there is a kingdom in the Marioverse that you would like Luigi and Orion to end up in, please tell. It can even be your own creation! If you did make it up though, please tell me a lot about it. We can discuss it in PM's if necessary.(It can not be Sarasaland. I already have plans for this.)**_

_**The option to have one of your OC's included is still open. Thanks!~A**_

_**Orion: WHEEEEEE!**_


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